NWT,YUKON,NUNAVUT

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Nov 26, 2010

This wouldn't be the best place for a brand new nurse to begin developing skills. In many locations in the north there is very little support and nurses must be comfortable and confident in their capabilities to be effective. In a large number of small northern communities there isn't a hospital, just a nursing station where the nurse is the only health care provider on site. In one day you may be required to deliver a baby, set a fractured leg, suture a scalp laceration, counsel a brittle diabetic on their diet and arrange a medevac for a baby with repsiratory distress. If you can obtain a position in one of the hospitals, that's a different kettle of fish. Stanton Territorial in Yellowknife, Qikiqtani in Iqaluit, Whitehorse General and HH Williams Memorial in Hay River are regional hospitals that offer some supports and backup to new nurses that you won't find in the smaller health centres, community health or home care. Salary is "good" but as you say, the cost of living is dramatically higher than down south. $17 for a 2 litre carton of milk, $8 for a dozen eggs, $6 for a head of iceberg lettuce... that can't be ignored. But there are many people from "down here" who have been successful and happy in the far north. Others find the isolation very difficult. It's a very serious choice that deserves serious research. Why don't you contact the hospitals I've named and see if anyone from there would be willing to talk to you?

zepher · Nov 26, 2010

Thank you very much for your reply.

I read that cost of living was very high, but I thought that's what the northern living allowance was for. I went on a website nunavutnurses... and there are posting that say that nla would be anywhere from 17,000 to 23,000 a year plus a $5000 signing bonus.

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Nov 26, 2010

The northern allowance is based on your location and it varies widely. The money gets eaten up by food costs, shipping costs on ordinary essential goods, utilities, travel costs and so on. Very little of it would remain in your bank account at the end of the year. And this northern allowance is taxable. All of the allowances and bonuses listed on that website are taxable. Don't forget to think about why they have all these allowances and bonuses too. They HAVE to retain staff and it's not that easy in remote, cold, dark communities with a language barrier. I'm not saying don't do it, I'm saying make sure you do your homework and really understand what you're getting into. If your an adventurous soul, you'll love it. Maybe. A close friend of mine is an adventurer and had tried her hand at many things. She's spent some time in the far north in the winter and she did NOT like it. It was a temporary gig, she knew it was a short term thing and was prepared to go with the flow. She couldn't wait to get back here. But she's not you.

zepher · Nov 26, 2010

I guess, the only reason I would ever go up there would be for the money and solitude.

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Nov 26, 2010

My dad, who doesn't have an adventurous bone in his body, worked up there for 12 years... for the money. It changed him. I don't know that I can define it, but he's almost antisocial; he prefers his own company to that of anyone else. It made him distant with his family, not only with his kids but also his siblings. Something else for you to ponder.

zepher · Nov 26, 2010

That sounds so creepy, but I'm already that way.

I just want to make decent money when I'm done nursing schools, I already have a student loan from my first degree... that pretty much got me no where!!!

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Nov 26, 2010

Having two adult offspring who have post-secondary education (the eldest has 3 degrees and is STILL in school) and the associated debt I can totally understand that. But I'd hate to see you sacrifice too much for the sake of paying down the lowest-interest debt you're ever going to have. Only you can decide if it's worth it.

RPN_2012 · Nov 27, 2010

Zepher when are you graduating? When are you planning to go? What your preference order for the 3 territories?

I'm a practical nursing student from Toronto, On planning to go for my degree right after I'm done PN school in 2012.

I'll be a RN by 2015, and planning to go to Nunavut (pref. a hospital, not some outpost nursing station) if all goes well I'll stay for maybe 2-3 years. :rolleyes:

I'm going precisely for the same reason, to pay off my student debt which by then will be big... and maybe accumulate a bit of cash for a down payment. I'll probably go back south after that, not sure I'll come back to T.O. though. :rolleyes: I can handle cold and isolation as long as I have warm clothes/boots, and some books/music/yarn&hook/cable/laptop and an internet connection I'm good, so no problem with that. I know prices are high up there, and the nla will be eaten up, but other than that if I spend conservatively, buy food to cook not all the precooked expensive stuff, and not buy crap I don't really need it should be okay. I'll work some overtime (I'm pretty sure there's overtime available, with their shortage of nurses...) an since I'll be alone (no kids, no family) I'll have lots of time to work that overtime if I want to... so I can make even more $$$ , I think I'll be okay :)

The only thing I got a little concerned about is the crime rate up north when I've read an article about it...especially in Nunavut. I guess people are really bored up there. The numbers of crime are low, but when you factor in the VERY low population, the % of crime gets high per capita which freaks me out a bit... and the fact the less than half of the high school students actually graduate high school, makes me wonder what do the ones who drop out do all day... scary... :uhoh3: Out of the 3 territories Nunavut has the highest crime rate and Yukon has the lowest, and last time I checked it's the same for RN pay;highest in Nunavut and lowest in Yukon (on average) :rolleyes:which is making Nunavut the most appealing (to me) but the scariest. Iqaluit (capital on Nunavut) which is growing extremely fast and has the highest non Inuit population in Nunavut is the one that appeals to me the most, but I'm worried 'cause it has the highest crime rate in all of Nunavut. Something to chew on for the next 5 years. :rolleyes:

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/yahoocanada/101015/canada/canada_s_most_violent_cities

http://www2.macleans.ca/2009/03/26/northern-blight/

101013_map.jpg?w=452&h=360

Zepher, do your research, google like crazy on all things north, and buy some warm clothes, it's cheaper down south.

zepher · Nov 28, 2010

I'm not in nursing school yet hope to get into an accelerated program this fall.. so i guess I'll be done by 2014. I'm just absolutely obsessed with working up north. Haha maybe we can go together!

acjoshua · Jan 26, 2011

Hey, I just came back from Whitehorse and I can say that I absolutely love it there. The beauty of the north and the mountains are just something else. The solitude and active lifestyle abound in every corner. I am currently enrolled in university here for Psych Nursing, but I am really considering changing my plans and begin studying Practical Nursing in Whitehorse at Yukon College in Fall of 2011.

I did not find the costs too excessive, at least they have 2 Starbucks and a Tim Hortons. The prices were the same as in Saskatoon (where i reside). For a person such as myself, the solitude, the beauty, and active lifestyle transcend the weather and any other reason not to go.